Prefer To Watch?

I also have a workshop on this topic - Five Foundations of a Great Design Business! The workshop also includes actionable advice and mini tasks to add to your to do list to get your foundations set up. Want to watch? Click the link below!

WATCH THE WORKSHOP!

Right, first off, I'm going to need you to bear with me and my love of a good analogy for this post because I am going all in! When I was writing up my recent workshop (Five Foundations of a Great Design Business!), I had a wave of inspiration that not only are the things I'm chatting about foundations - but also, building a business is kind of like building a house?

Let me explain (please don't judge my severe lack of building knowledge, my only building experience comes from The Sims…) and follow along with the diagram below!

Foundations (Your Dream Clients)

Your dream clients are so important that they can impact every part of your business. Your marketing, your pricing, your portfolio, your content…everything! All of these things should be worked out with your dream clients in mind. As they are so crucial to your business, your dream clients are the foundations of your house and you have a hard time building your business properly without this!

Bricks & Mortar (Packages/Pricing)

Your walls are built with your services which include your packages and your pricing. Your services give you structure within your business and you will struggle to have a business house which is sustainable and long-lasting without. Chances are you will still be working in a freelancer mindset which is taking odd jobs, charging hourly and not having any set method to the work you do. This doesn’t give the structure to your business that you want.

Paint & Wallpaper (Your Portfolio)

Such an important part of a design business is a portfolio which like the paint or wallpaper in the house! This is because it gives you the visuals of what we stand for, showcases our style and what we love to do and can be seen with just a quick glance. You want your decor to be consistent and in a similar style throughout to make sure it isn't confused and it attracts the right people!

Layout (Client Process)

Now moving onto client process which is the layout of our house. We want systems, we want easy to follow plans and we don’t want to get lost because the plan hasn’t been thought through properly or has been made up as you go along. The most important thing to consider with your process is a step by step plan that makes it easy for your clients to move through your projects with ease.

Decor (Your Authentic Voice)

Finally is your authentic voice (or your brand tone of voice) which is so important when it comes to writing content and marketing. Your authentic voice covers the small decor items in your house, the bits that give it personality and really showcase what it is you love and are about. No one else can replicate your voice just as no one else in the world will have exactly the same house plants, prints or knick knacks!

Hopefully you’re still with me! All jokes aside, I really love this analogy and completely believe that I'm on to something! These foundations can really help you build your business to be professional, successful and sustainable and they are all really important to get your lovely lil business house where you want it to be!